Abby update - November 1

The new month seems to be bringing some welcome changes for us. Today Abby is showing greatly increased activity levels. In fact, tonight we've just put some padding on the rails around her bed, as she's moving around a lot more (you gotta watch out for a wicked kick with her left leg!). We're praying this is the long-awaited "agitated" stage. I don't envy the therapists their work in the next few days, but we're so glad to see so much more life in Abby's movements! In a few days we may be praying for the agitated stage to end, but for now it's great to see...

Abby had another good eating day today--cream of wheat, eggs, juice nectar, thickened milk, mashed potatoes, mystery meat, turkey and gravy, mystery veggies, mixed fruit, and even some cheesecake! It's like you suspect about baby food--apparently those odd-colored veggies don't taste nearly as good as the fruit...

No CT-scan today. The radiologist felt that he would need to hyper-extend Abby's neck to get a good image, and, with the fractures at the base of her skull, the pediatrician felt that the risks of the CT would not be worth the information it might provide, since Abby has not run a fever for several days now. That's another prayer answered! Instead, Abby got to go to x-ray today and have some shots made of her hips and knee. The physical therapist has had a really hard time working with her right leg--it's as if Abby is protecting it because it hurts, so they want to find out if there's any previously undetected injury. That happens sometimes in trauma cases, when the acute injuries overshadow the less obvious ones, so we still have some praying to do that there's not an injury that will slow down rehab.

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a month since Abby's and Taylor's accident, and yet it's hard to remember anything but staying by Abby's side, praying for and encouraging her. It's been an incredibly hard time, but an incredibly rich time. For those of you who have wondered, Taylor is doing very well. She's back in school, getting around with crutches, and even taking a few unassisted steps. We love you Taylor, and hope you're back to full strength really soon...

Finally, I mentioned that we moved to room 427 here at Warm Springs, but I failed to post the direct phone number into the room. It's 210-595-2427. You might just want to call ahead if you'd like to drop in. If Abby does indeed become very agitated during this recovery period, we might want to keep things quiet for her. However, there are many places where we could visit with you outside her room in some sitting areas--depending on whether we're both around, etc.

Let's get agitated, agitated, agitated...
Love,
Frank, Abby, Gordon & Lee Ann